Fujitsu launches MeeGo-powered netbook

Fujitsu has announced its first MeeGo-powered netbook, the LifeBook MH330 – but before you get too excited, it’s an Asia-Pacific exclusive.

Based on the original LifeBook MH330 launched back in March of last year, the latest release ditches the Windows operating system originally provided in favour of of MeeGo Linux.

Born out of an amalgamation of Nokia’s Maemo mobile platform and Intel’s netbook-centric Moblin operating system, MeeGo promised much but hasn’t exactly delivered – to the point that Nokia is abandoning the platform in favour of becoming yet another Windows Phone 7 licensee.

Fujitsu believes that there’s life in the old dog yet, however – but in the netbook, rather than the smartphone, market.

The MeeGo-based MH330 retains the same specifications as its predecessor. Powered by an Intel Atom N450 1.66GHz single-core processor and packing a 10.1-inch 1024×600 display, it’s a cookie-cutter clone of almost every other netbook on the market – albeit a reasonably slim example of the genre, at 18.5mm thick.

Fujitsu claims, however, that MeeGo will really make the device stand out in the crowd, boasting of a ‘powerful user interface,’ a ‘full suite of usable applications,’ and a design that will appeal to ‘multimedia natives’.

A move to MeeGo certainly has its advantages: Intel has worked hard to ensure that the operating system performs well on its low-power Atom processors, and provides the Intel AppUp Centre, a web-based storefront for free and paid-for applications designed for netbook use. Boot times should also be significantly improved over the Windows variant.

Sadly, it will also come at a cost: with Nokia likely to be concentrating more on the development of the Windows Phone series than MeeGo, the project has lost a major contributor – and could start to lag behind other alternatives such as Ubuntu Linux and Windows 7.

It has been suggested that the device will hit the Singapore markets for S$488, or around £237 – a mere S$11 (£5.34) saving on the original model with Windows 7 Starter Edition.

So far, Fujitsu has not announced plans to launch MeeGo-powered products in the UK.